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(Medical Scholarship Society) 



HISTORY AND 
CONSTITUTION 




1922 



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(Medical Scholarship Society) 



HISTORY AND 
CONSTITUTION 




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Presidents 

William W. Root, (Founder) 1 902-1 904 
Winfield S. Hall, 1904-1913 
Russell Burton-Opitz, 1913-1918 
John L. Heffron, 191 8 



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Board of Directors 

(Includes Officers) 

Term of Office Expires 
August Slst 

John L. Heffron, President 1926 

Physicians Building, Syracuse, N. Y. 

* John J. Mackenzie, Vice-President 1924 

University of Toronto, Medical Department, Toronto 

Irving S. Cutter 1924 

University of Nebraska, Medical Department, Omaha 

W. M. Late Coplin 1926 

Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia 

Elias P. Lyon 1928 

University of Minnesota, Minneapolis 

Walter E. Garrey 1928 

Tulane University, New Orleans 

William W. Root, Secretary -Treasurer 
Slaterville Springs, N. Y. 



*Died August i, 1922. 



Committee on Extension 

Walter B. Cannon, Chairman 
Harvard Medical School, Boston 

John M. Dodson 
Rush Medical College, Chicago 

William Pepper 
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 

Nathan P. Colwell 
535 N. Dearborn St., Chicago 

William W. Root, Secretary 
Slaterville Springs, N. Y. 



Committee on Meetings and 
Recommendations 

Josiah J. Moore, Chairman 
5 S. Wabash Ave., Chicago 

Stephen W. Ranson 
Northwestern University, Chicago 



William W. Root, Secretary 
Slaterville Springs, N. Y. 



Chapters 

(In Order of Establishment) 



1902 

ALPHA OF ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

BETA OF ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO 

1903 

GAMMA OF ILLINOIS NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 

ALPHA OF OHIO WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY 

ALPHA OF PENNSYLVANIA JEFFERSON MEDICAL COLLEGE 

BETA OF PENNSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA 

1905 
ALPHA OF MISSOURI WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY 

1906 

ALPHA OF MASSACHUSETTS HARVARD UNIVERSITY 

ALPHA OF CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 

ALPHA OF MARYLAND JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY 

ALPHA OF ONTARIO UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO 

1907 

ALPHA OF NEW YORK COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 

ALPHA OF MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN 

1908 
ALPHA OF MINNESOTA UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA 

1910 
BETA OF NEW YORK CORNELL UNIVERSITY 

1911 

GAMMA OF NEW YORK SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY 

ALPHA OF QUEBEC McGILL UNIVERSITY 

1914 

ALPHA OF NEBRASKA UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA 

ALPHA OF LOUISIANA TULANE UNIVERSITY 

1916 

BETA OF OHIO UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI 

GAMMA OF PENNSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH 

ALPHA OF INDIANA INDIANA UNIVERSITY 

1919 
ALPHA OF VIRGINIA. . . UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA 

1920 

ALPHA OF IOWA. STATE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA 

ALPHA OF TEXAS UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS 

ALPHA OF CONNECTICUT YALE UNIVERSITY 

5 



Counselors 

(Faculty Officers) 

University of Illinois Ernest S. Moore 

University of Chicago George W. Hall 

Northwestern University Stephen W. Ranson 

John A. Wolfer 

Western Reserve University Frederick C. Waite 

Jefferson Medical College W. M. Late Coplin 

University of Pennsylvania Edward Martin 

Washington University Robert J. Terry 

Harvard University Walter B. Cannon 

University of California Howard C. Naffziger 

Johns Hopkins University Arthur L. Bloomfield 

University of Toronto John A. Oille 

Columbia University , Russell Burton-Opitz 

University of Michigan Albert M. Barrett 

University of Minnesota Jennings C. Litzenberg 

Cornell University Jeremiah S. Ferguson 

Syracuse University Frank P. Knowlton 

McGill University Horst Oertel 

University of Nebraska John J. Keegan 

Tulane University John T. Halsey 

University of Cincinnati Albert H. Freiberg 

University of Pittsburgh Charles C. Guthrie 

Indiana University Burton D. Myers 

University of Virginia John H. Neff 

University of Iowa John T. McClintock 

University of Texas Albert O. Singleton 

Yale University Samuel C. Harvey 

Note. Correspondence with these officers, relating to their chapters, may be directed 
to them at the schools they represent. 



History of the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical 

Scholarship Society and Its Relation 

to Medical Education* 

By William W. Root, M.D., Secretary-Treasurer 

In these early years of the twentieth century more progress has been 
made in advancing the standards of medical education in America 
than in all the preceding years put together. Of all the influences at 
work during this marvelous period but one organized effort has arisen 
within the student body and no future history of medicine can be complete 
without some reference to such influence. This is the Alpha Omega 
Alpha Society. Its organization marks a transitional period in medical 
education and in its betterment this order claims a modest share of 
credit. It was started as a protest against a condition which associated 
the name medical student with rowdyism, boorishness, immorcdity and 
low educational ideals and be it noted such protest arose entirely from 
students, not one member of the faculty having been consulted. 

At five o'clock in the afternoon of the 25th day of August, in the 
year of our Lord 1902, six seniors t met in the bacteriological laboratory 
of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Chicago to give definite 
expression to their positive stand for better things in the medical 
school and to band themselves together to do what they could to remedy 
a condition which seemed intolerable to them. 

On October 29th this new departure numbered 21 students, all of 
whom were present on the evening of that date in the "Blue Room" of 
the Bismarck Hotel, where a detailed explanation was given by the 
founder and a severe indictment of conditions found in medical school 
made by the second man chosen to membership, Mr. E. S. Moore, in 
the course of which he stated that among the virtues conspicuous by 
their absence was honesty and to the extent that articles of any value 
would be sure to remain where placed in the medical building only by 
nailing them securely. A lack of scholarly attainments, on the part of 



*An address before the Alpha Chapter of Ohio, Western Reserve University Medical 
Department, November 20, 1909. Revised October, 1922. 

fThe members before formal organization were William W. Root, Charles L. Williams, 
Ernest S. Moore, Benjamin Thomas, George H. Howard, John E. Haskell, Will H. Moore, 
Wenzel M. Wochos and Milton W. Hall. Of tnese Howard, Haskell and Hall were absent 
from the August meeting. All graduated from "P. & S." except Root, who took his M.D. 
from Rush. Formal notice of such an organization appeared in the Chicago papers and in 
the Jour. A. M. A., Sept. 27, 1902, p. 778. 



8 HISTORY 

a large majority, quite in keeping with the low moral tone, was felt as 
keenly. At this time but three medical schools in this country required 
college work for entrance and in fact many students had only the 
preparation furnished by our grammar schools, such standards as did 
obtain being very loosely enforced. The necessity that the students 
themselves combine to remedy such a condition was emphasized. 

A movement with such aims and ideals could not long remain local 
and we find that on December 13th of the same year a permit was 
granted to 14 senior students of Rush Medical College, and on Feb- 
ruary 7th of the following year to 13 senior students of the Northwest- 
ern University Medical School. Then these boys were not satisfied to 
keep so good a gospel in Chicago, and we find before the close of this 
school year chapters at the Western Reserve University Medical 
School, Jefferson Medical College and the Medical Department of 
the University of Pennsylvania. Why it was that these high-grade 
and conservative seats of learning should welcome so new a movement, 
before more than the roughest draft of its constitution had been com- 
pleted, can be explained only by the intrinsic merit of the ideal stimu- 
lating such movement. On May 20, 1905, a charter was granted to 
the Medical Department of Washington University at Saint Louis. 

The year 1906 was a notable one for this society, since in it four 
schools of the highest standing were admitted to the chapterate. On 
February 1st a chapter was established at Harvard, followed on the 
10th by one at the University of California. On April 20th a charter 
was granted to Johns Hopkins and on November 1 2th one to the Uni- 
versity of Toronto. Columbia University was added November 1st, 
1907, the University of Michigan December 10th of the same year, the 
University of Minnesota January 15, 1908, and Cornell University 
May 2, 1910. In 191 1 Syracuse and McGill, in 1914 Nebraska and 
Tulane, in 191 6 Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Indiana, in 191 9 Virginia, 
and in 1920 Iowa, Texas and Yale were granted charters, making in 
all to date 26 chapters, all fully active with many applications pending 
from excellent institutions. 

In 1906, when this order was four years old, a careful comparison 
was made as to its progress relative to other college organizations, when 
it was found that it had grown for the time since establishment more 
than twice as rapidly as had any of the other college honor societies, 
while of the ninety-eight college fraternities enumerated in Baird's 
Manual but two had made so good a record. 

In justice to facts, three names must always be associated with the 
early history of Alpha Omega Alpha. These are William Webster Root, 



HISTORY 9 

Burchard Hayes Roark and Winfield Scott Hall. Root conceived the 
idea, wrote the constitution, designed the badge and has fathered the 
movement generally; Roark* assisted in organizing the chapter at 
Rush Medical College and took a special trip east at which time chap- 
ters were organized at Western Reserve, at Jefferson and at the Uni- 
versity of Pennsylvania. The funds for this trip were advanced by the 
founder. Hall, has, ever since the formation of the Northwestern chap- 
ter, recognized the significance of this movement and threw the im- 
mense prestige of his reputation as an educator, lecturer and author of 
international fame, into this fraternity of which he was the head from 
1904 to 1 913. Extremely busy man though he was, one third of his 
time had been devoted to the furtherance of this movement, as stated 
to the writer at the end of one school year. He was ably assisted by 
Walter B. Cannon as Associate Primarius, 1 904-1 913 (now called Vice 
President), who has continued as Chairman of the Committee of Ex- 
tension which inaugurated the high standards best shown in the char- 
acter of the institutions in which chapters have been established. From 
1913 to 1918 Professors Burton-Opitz of Columbia and G. Carl Huber 
of Michigan served as President and Vice President during whose wise 
leadership we steadily grew in size and influence. It was due mostly 
to President Burton-Opitz' influence that chapters were placed at 
Columbia, Cornell and McGill Universities. For the six year term 
1918-1924 Dean John L. Heflron of Syracuse University was chosen as 
President and Professor John J. Mackenzie of Toronto University as 
Vice President. This period is one of great expansion in prestige and 
usefulness. Recognition from educators, slow in coming during our 
early years when the nature of our society was not understood, now 
seems assured. This is also a period when marked discretion and ex- 
cellent judgment must be used and we are fortunate in having had 
these two leaders. It is most painful to record here the death of our 
esteemed Vice President and Director August 1st, 1922, which is the 
hardest blow the organization has yet received. His place can hardly 
be rilled for such a combination of scholarly attainments, teaching 
ability and power to inspire others, with so attractive a personality, is 
indeed rare. Elsewhere are noted certain aspects of his service with us. 
As intimated above, this society is an honorary fraternity and mem- 
bership is based exclusively upon scholarship, moral qualifications being 
satisfactory. It may at first seem strange that an organization avow- 
edly for a specific moral purpose should not welcome all to assist in so 



*A brief sketch of Alpha Omega Alpha from the pen of Dr. Roark appeared in the 
Journal of the Phi Rho Sigma Fraternity for February, 1906, p. 11. 



io HISTORY 

good a cause, but should be, on the contrary, so exclusive. It was felt, 
however, by the organizers that this very exclusiveness would help to 
carry out the original purpose and that hence the idea of an honorary 
fraternity should be rigidly adhered to that the order might have the 
added prestige the better to effect the moral purpose for which it was 
established. To this end the qualifications of each candidate are most 
rigidly examined. Chapters are limited to medical colleges of the high- 
est standing and in the election of undergraduates students only can 
vote except that members of the faculty who are also members of the 
fraternity have a negative vote. The election of students is conducted 
as follows: an official list of those standing highest in scholarship is 
obtained from the college records and no other names can be con- 
sidered. This list is sent to each faculty member of the society and if 
no adverse criticism be submitted the elections are made by the student 
members from this list in the order of scholarship rank. The power of 
election is left with the students for the reason that they alone know of 
dishonesty in examination or immorality on the part of the candidates, 
either of which would preclude membership. The officers of the chapter 
are commonly students or recent graduates with the exception of the 
Counselor, who exercises a general oversight and who must be a mem- 
ber of the faculty. A few students may be chosen at the end of the 
third year of the medical course, but most of the membership is made 
up from the fourth-year class, not more than one-fifth of the candidates 
for graduation being elected. A small number of honorary members 
may be selected from those who have performed some distinguished 
service to their fellows. Women are admitted on the same terms as 
men. In fact race, color, creed, sex and social standing form no bar- 
rier to membership, the only qualifications necessary being scholarship 
and character. The badge is a flat key to be worn as a watch charm and 
shaped after the manubrium sterni. At the annual chapter meetings 
an address is given by some distinguished member of the medical pro- 
fession. Already some of these addresses are notable contributions to 
medical literature. Candidates are regularly initiated, at which time 
the Oath of Hippocrates is read and the members are impressed with 
the moral tenets of the order. All, however, is non-secret and the con- 
stitution and further details can be mailed to any one interested. 

The society has a charter dated January 31, 1903, and granted by 
the state of Illinois.* 



♦This Charter bears number 4039956 and was filed for record in the Cook County 
Building, May 22, 1907, and recorded in Book 109 of Corporation Records, p. 498. 



HISTORY ii 

The general management is vested in a board of seven directors and 
in the executives, — president, vice president and secretary -treasurer, — 
chosen by them. A committee of five on Extension decides upon the 
eligibility of an institution for a charter and passes upon an application 
for the same before it is voted upon by the chapters or by delegates at 
the biennial council when the directors are chosen and other business of 
a general nature transacted. The President of the society has large 
powers and all business not covered by the constitution is left to his 
discretion with the consent of the Board of Directors. A second general 
committee of five on Meetings and Recommendations, just inaugurated, 
will arrange for our general gatherings and suggest to the President 
and to the members any change in policy or modification of usages 
thought better to serve our purposes. The personnel of our executives 
is found elsewhere. 

In college such an organization forms a powerful stimulus to scholar- 
ship, for the student upon entrance to his medical course, soon learns 
that only rank honestly attained can secure "this highest honor in 
medical school." In the words of the late Dean Quine of the parent 
chapter "it is for the man who has made good" and it is likely that the 
man who has made good in medical school possesses those qualities of 
mind and character which shall make him eminently helpful to his fel- 
lows. Not only this but our young brothers have inaugurated among 
the student body movements for its betterment or have converted their 
chapter meetings into training schools for the arduous duties ahead, as 
will be presently noted. 

All of our chapters are substantially in agreement in that elections 
are made on a scholarship basis, that a dinner is held once a year and 
that at an open meeting a distinguished member of our profession is 
asked to give an address. In other respects chapters may differ widely 
owing to local conditions, traditions of the school and the like. Our 
parent chapter at the University of Illinois placed in the Quine college 
library an Alpha Omega Alpha case with $30 worth of books, including 
three volumes of Robert Koch's works, life of John Shaw Billings 
and life and letters of William Beaumont, and to these are being added 
suitable volumes from time to time. The Western Reserve chapter 
has instituted an Alpha Omega Alpha Prize Essay Contest, the prize 
consisting of $50 and open to any medical student in the Western 
Reserve University. Such prizes for results of original investigation 
obtain also at the Syracuse and Cincinnati chapters. 

Beginning with the Harvard chapter and followed by Toronto, Syra- 
cuse, Michigan and others, meetings have been instituted devoted to 



12 HISTORY 

the reading and discussion of scientific papers and to clinical reports, 
one chapter even having inaugurated tuberculosis clinics in a neighbor- 
ing city. Special mention in this connection should be made of our late 
Vice President, the Counselor of the Toronto chapter, who developed 
there a veritable research club where each member must present at 
least one paper each year. Our Board of Directors advises all chapters 
to have meetings as frequently as is compatible with college duties, at 
which a program of high order shall be carried out by the active mem- 
bers. Furthermore it is their policy to have the Secretary -Treasurer 
visit annually as many chapters as possible in order to observe the pro- 
gress made. 

Our influence is exerted not only in stimulating honest scholarship, 
ethical ideals and the research spirit in college but also in laying stress 
upon suitable qualifications for entrance and graduation and upon bet- 
ter standards for the profession generally. I may add that our methods 
in the evaluation of schools are quite distinct and while we are very 
glad to secure information and assistance from other organizations de- 
voted to the improvement of medical standards and to reciprocate when 
we can, we nevertheless act as an organization quite independently in 
that we have our own standards, make our own inspections and prepare 
our own reports. Before a school is voted upon for a charter it is 
personally inspected and reported upon by our own representative how- 
ever favorable the reports may be from other educational agencies and 
we have always, before submitting an application to the chapters or to 
the Council, required an unanimous vote from our Committee on Ex- 
tension. A prominent member of one of these stated to the writer in 
this connection that our organization performed a distinct service here 
in that, being less bound by certain purposes of expediency, a higher 
standard is set with the added stimulus that goes with it. 

All in all we hope now at our twentieth anniversary to have but 
entered upon an unique field of usefulness, and trust, as stated by a dis- 
tinguished educator, "that this fraternity will have a great deal to do 
with the improvement of the general tone and solidarity of the medical 
profession." "To be worthy to serve the suffering" — such is our motto 
and may this watchword, together with the lofty ideals set before us by 
Hippocrates, "the patron preceptor of our order," be kept as a guiding 
star that the distinct purposes for which this society was instituted may 
never be relinquished. 



Alpha Omega Alpha 



>T^his is a non-secret, fourth-year, Medical Honor Society, member- 
A ship to which is based entirely upon scholarship, moral qualifica- 
tions being satisfactory. It was organized at the College of Medicine 
of the University of Illinois, Chicago, August 25, 1902, and is the only 
order of its kind in medical schools on this continent. Its definite mission 
is to encourage personal honesty and the spirit of medical research. 

It is deemed wise to limit the chapters to medical schools of the 
highest standing. For Charter or for further information those inter- 
ested are invited to correspond with one of the General Officers, whose 
names and addresses are given above. 

This is the fourth printed edition of the Constitution and is a revi- 
sion of the third edition printed September 19 13. The second edition 
appeared in September 1910 and the first in August 1907. Before this 
typewritten copies were used. 

It is hoped that this present revision will adequately meet the needs 
of a rapidly growing organization. However suggestions for future 
changes by educators or others interested are welcome, these to be 
Sent to the General Secretary who will, on order from the President, 
forward them to the Chapters for consideration. 

October, 1922. 



13 



Constitution 

ARTICLE I. 

Name 

Section i. This society shall be called The Alpha Omega Alpha 
Honorary Fraternity, the three Greek letters being the initials of 
the following words: 

*A£tos tixfrekelv tovs dAyoOvras 
"To be worthy to serve the suffering." 

ARTICLE II. 
Nature and Object 

Section i. This organization, while possessing exclusive features 
as regards scholarship with other exacting requirements, adds to these 
the definite mission to encourage high ideals of thought and action in 
schools of medicine and to promote the best in professional practice: 
also to encourage medical research. As students, members are to 
avoid that which will make them unworthy of their calling and to fur- 
ther the same spirit among fellow students. As practitioners, they are 
to maintain and to encourage the lofty ideals set before them by the 
revered father of medicine, Hippocrates; to show respect for other 
members of their calling; to advocate high requirements for entrance 
to the course in medicine and for graduation; in short, to do what they 
can to exalt and to ennoble the profession. 

A commercial spirit is to be avoided, and the purely scientific, the 
philosophical, and the poetical features of the profession are to be 
cultivated. 

ARTICLE III. 

Election to Membership 

Section i. Third- and fourth -year students in a medical school 
where a chapter of this society is located, or fourth- and fifth-year stu- 
dents if the course is five years long, shall be eligible for election as ac- 
tive members, subject to the following conditions: 

(a) Scholarship. 

(b) Strength of character, individuality and originality. 

14 



CONSTITUTION 15 

(c) Moral character in the broadest sense, including unselfishness, 
respect for one's self and for others, with high ideals. 

Scholarship must always be considered the most important qualifica- 
tion for election, but no man, however brilliant in scholarship shall be 
eligible if he does not conform to the several requirements set forth in 
the last two subdivisions. 

§ 2. The total number of members in the fourth year shall never 
be a greater proportion of the class than one-fifth (>•£). One-half (}4) 
of this number may be elected from the third-year class, but not before 
the last half of that year. 

§ 3. At the first election from the third-year class not more than 
five (5) candidates shall be selected. 

§ 4. A list of the candidates is, in every case, to be sent to each 
faculty member of the fraternity with request for criticisms, and no 
candidate receiving an adverse criticism from a faculty membei shall 
be balloted upon; such criticism shall, however, be accompanied by an 
explanation. 

§ 5. Each candidate shall be balloted upon separately, and one 
negative vote shall be sufficient to exclude, but in every such case the 
member so voting shall state his reasons in full before the other mem- 
bers. Should this member withdraw his vote, the candidate may be 
balloted upon at a subsequent meeting. 

§ 6. Unpopularity of a student shall not be a bar to his election. 

§ 7. No student shall be eligible to membership unless he shall 
have been in attendance at the college for one school year. 

§ 8. No candidate shall be enrolled as a member until after he has 
been regularly initiated and has paid the initiation fee of the local 
chapter and of the general fraternity. Each chapter shall determine 
its own initiation fee. The initiation fee to the general fraternity shall 
be fifteen dollars, the payment of which shall entitle the initiate to a 
standard badge and a certificate of membership, which shall be fur- 
nished by the general fraternity through its secretary -treasurer. Mem- 
bers will not be permitted to purchase or to wear any badge of the pat- 
tern of the Alpha Omega Alpha key except those made by the official 
jeweler and furnished by the secretary -treasurer. 

§ 9. Should a student member of one chapter leave the institution 
in which he received his election and become a student in another in- 
stitution where a chapter of Alpha Omega Alpha is located, he may, by 
a majority vote, be received as an active member of the latter chapter 



16 CONSTITUTION 

upon presenting a statement of membership from the Secretary of his 
chapter. Other than student members, may be transferred in like man- 
ner. 

§ 10. No student, having taken work at an institution where there 
is a chapter of this fraternity, shall be elected to membership in another 
chapter until the first chapter concurs in his election by a two-thirds 
(H) vote. 

§ ii. Physicians graduated from a college in which a chapter of 
the fraternity is established and who conform to the requirements de- 
manded of undergraduates, may be elected to active membership from 
classes which antedate the granting of the charter, but not more than 
one-tenth (i-io) of any class shall be so chosen. 

§ 12. Each chapter may nominate to the Board of Directors for 
honorary membership physicians, or investigators in subjects allied to 
medicine, who have gained wide recognition through original research 
or in administration, and who conform to the requirements demanded 
of undergraduates. Election of honorary members shall be by the 
Board of Directors. 

ARTICLE IV. 

General Control 

Section i . The general management of the Society shall be vested 
in a Board of seven Directors and the officers elected by them. 

§ 2. The three General Officers shall be the President, the Vice- 
President and the Secretary-Treasurer, who shall be elected by the 
Board of Directors. 

§.3. The President shall be elected to serve for a term of six years 
or until his successor is duly elected and installed, the terms ending 
September 1, 191 2, 1918, 1924, etc. He shall be the general Executive 
Head of the Society and shall with the approval of the Board of Di- 
rectors, administer all business of the Society not otherwise provided 
for by the Constitution. 

§ 4. The Vice-President shall in like manner be elected to serve 
six years, the terms ending September 1, 1912, 191 8, 1924, etc. It shall 
be his duty to co-operate with the President and to serve as presiding 
officer in the absence of the President. In the event of the death or 
resignation of the President, the Vice-President shall serve in his place 
until a new President shall have been elected. 



CONSTITUTION 17 

§ 5. The Secretary -Treasurer shall be elected by the Board of 
Directors to serve for an indeterminate period, until his successor shall 
be chosen by the Board, on the event of his death or resignation or in- 
competency in office, but the first Secretary -Treasurer of the Society 
shall be its Founder. 

§ 6. The Secretary -Treasurer shall perform the usual duties de- 
volving upon such officer. He shall, at the beginning of each fiscal 
year (September 1), present to the President a written report of the 
financial standing of the Fraternity, including a detailed statement of 
all moneys received and expended during the preceding year. 

§ 7. The Board of Directors shall consist of seven members, the 
Founder to serve for life and the remaining six to be chosen by the 
International Council of Chapters for a period of six years from Sep- 
tember 1, two directorates ending in 191 2, two in 19 14, two in 191 6 and 
so on, each Director to serve until his successor is duly elected and in- 
stalled. Vacancies in the Board caused by death and resignation shall 
be filled for the unexpired term by the Board of Directors, the succes- 
sors to the Founder being elected for such terms as may seem wise to 
the Board. At the adoption of this Constitution in 1913 the Members 
of the Board consist of William W. Root, Winfield S. Hall, Walter B. 
Cannon, Russell Burton-Opitz and G. Carl Huber. These shall elect 
two (2) additional members to serve until September 1, 1914 and before 
the close of 1913 these seven (7) Directors shall elect a President and 
Vice-President to serve until September 1, 191 8. Huber and Burton- 
Opitz shall serve as Directors until 191 8 and Cannon and Hall until 
1916. 

§ 8. An International Council of Delegates elected by the Chap- 
ters shall convene every two years beginning with 191 2, to be held 
preferably in connection with the meeting of the American Medical 
Association. The voting members of this Council shall consist of the 
Directors, one Delegate from each chapter duly elected by said chapter 
and furnished with proper credentials, and the Delegates at large as 
under Section 9. A number equal to one-half of the active Chapters 
shall constitute a quorum. The order of business shall be: 

1. (a) RolTCall. (b) Reading of Minutes. 

2. Report of the President. 

3. Report of the Secretary -Treasurer. 

4. Consideration and vote on applications for New Chapters. 
(Article X, Section 1.) 



18 CONSTITUTION 

5. Consideration and vote on Directors. (Article IV, Section 7). 

6. Unfinished business. 

7. New business. 

8. Adjournment. 

§ 9. Each President upon retirement from office shall be known as 
Past President I, II, III, etc., and he shall have the right to vote at all 
International Councils which he may attend as Delegate-At-Large from 
the Society. 

ARTICLE V. 

Chapter Officers 

Section i. The officers of each chapter shall be: A Counselor, 
President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer. The last two 
offices may be vested in one person. 

§ 2. The Counselor, who must be a member of the faculty, shall 
serve for three (3) years. He shall be responsible to the faculty for the 
condition of the chapter, and, by maintaining with it an intimate rela- 
tionship in such manner as he may think proper, assure a continuation 
of the high ideals for which the fraternity stands. 

§3. It is understood, unless otherwise ordered by the Counselor, 
that the other officers shall perform all the duties usually devolving 
upon such officers. They shall serve for one (1) year. 

§ 4. The Secretary shall keep the names properly classified, so that 
his records will furnish the date of initiation of any member. As soon 
as initiated, full names of new members with year of initiation and of 
graduation shall be forwarded to the General Secretary. As soon as 
officers are chosen the address, both city and home, of at least the new 
Secretary, must be sent at once by the retiring Secretary to the General 
Secretary. 

ARTICLE VI. 

Meetings 

Section i. The meeting for the election from the graduating class 
may be held on the second Saturday in November. The meeting for 
the election of officers may be held on the second Saturday in May. 

§ 2. Other dates for election may be substituted, or further meet- 
ings called at the discretion of the President in consultation with the 
Counselor. 



CONSTITUTION 19 

§ 3. An annual banquet or other meeting should be held, where an 
address may be given by a distinguished member of the profession. 
This address may be delivered at another time than that appointed for 
the banquet, and the public invited. 

ARTICLE VII. 

Executive Committee 

Section i. The Executive Committee shall consist of the Presi- 
dent, the Vice-President and the Secretary. 

§ 2. This committee shall be responsible for arranging the program 
of the meetings, for providing a suitable speaker to deliver the annual 
Alpha Omega Alpha address, for the nomination of candidates for elec- 
tion after examining their scholarship records and moral fitness, and 
for the discharge of necessary business in the intervals between the 
meetings, provided that reports be submitted at such meetings. It is 
furthermore provided that in the nomination of candidates this com- 
mittee may be increased from three (3) to five (5) at the discretion of 
the President, and that not less than two of its members shall belong 
to the class from which the candidates are to be selected, provided an 
election from such class has been made. 

§ 3. It is necessary, in order that election to membership continue 
to be a high honor, that members lay aside all personal considerations 
in the selection of candidates, the basis of choice being solely their 
personal worth as given in Article III, Section 1. 

ARTICLE VIII. 

Form of Initiation 

Section i. (a) The candidates may be ushered into the presence 
of the Chapter by a marshal, appointed by the President. 

(b) The Constitution, or such selections as reflect the spirit of the 
order, may be read by the Secretary or other member appointed by the 
President. 

(c) The President, or his deputy, shall explain the aims and objects 
of the fraternity. 

(d) The Oath of Hippocrates shall be read by a member appointed 
by the President. 

(e) The members-elect shall sign the Constitution. 



20 CONSTITUTION 

(f) The concluding feature may be the Alpha Omega Alpha ad- 
dress, which, however, can be given publicly at abater date. (Article 
VI, Section 3.) 

ARTICLE IX. 

Quorum 

Section i. One-quarter QyQ of the number representing the stu- 
dent members shall constitute a quorum, except where such number is 
less than ten (10), when one-half (J^) shall constitute a quorum. 

ARTICLE X. 

New Chapters 

Section i. Charters may be granted to university medical schools 
of high standing. An application, signed by a suitable number of stu- 
dents (Article III, Section 2), and not more than five (5) members of 
the faculty, shall be sent to the President of the Fraternity, and this he 
shall submit to the Committee on Extension, appointed by himself and 
approved by the Board of Directors. If this committee reports favor- 
ably, a charter may be granted at the next Biennial Council by a four- 
fifths (4-5) affirmative vote provided that an application shall be sub- 
mitted to the chapters at least two (2) months before the meeting of 
the Council, at which action on such application is to be made. In case 
of an emergency, the President may order the vote to be taken by the 
Fraternity Secretary through correspondence. 

§ 2. Any chapter may be suspended or excluded by a three-fourths 
(3-4) vote at each of the other Chapters. 

§ 3. The form for the granting of charters shall be as follows: 

The Alpha Omega Alpha Honorary Fraternity, by virtue of the 
authority granted to it by the State of Illinois, herewith grants to 

the power to establish a chapter of 

this society at subject to the Constitution gov- 
erning said Honorary Fraternity. 

In token of these presents are herewith affixed the signature of the 
President and the corporate seal of the society. 

§ 4. Each chapter shall be named after the State in which the col- 
lege is situated, the relative time of establishment in that State being 
indicated by the order of letters in the Greek alphabet. It may also be 
named after the school represented. 



CONSTITUTION 21 

ARTICLE XI. 

Insignia 

Section i. *The badge of this organization shall be in the form of 
a key to be worn as a watch charm and shall be made of gold, and de- 
signed after the Manubrium Sterni. The obverse shall be invariable, 
having engraved thereon the three Greek letters A fi A and the date 
of organization. On the reverse may be placed the name of the school, 
the name of the member owning the key, and the date of his election. 

§ 2. *The certificate of membership in this society shall bear its 
seal and the signatures of the Fraternity President and Secretary- 
Treasurer. It shall also bear the name of the organization, a design of 
the key, and the following: 

Be it known that 

has been elected to membership, Anno Domini „ 

§ 3. The seal of this fraternity shall consist of a circular wreath of 
laurel, on the inside of which shall be placed in letters near the wreath 
the motto in Greek. Inside of this the words "Alpha Omega Alpha." 
and below this, "Organized August 25, 1902." 

ARTICLE XII. 

Expulsion of Members 

Section i . Any member may be suspended or expelled by a three- 
quarters (%) vote, the matter having had free discussion at a meeting 
of the chapter held not less than two (2) weeks prior to the meeting at 
which the vote is taken. On or before the date of the first meeting, a 
letter shall be mailed informing the President of the Fraternity of the 
action contemplated. The suspended or expelled member may appeal 
to the Directors, whose vote must be considered final. 

ARTICLE XIII. 

Amendments to the Constitution 

Section i. This Constitution may be amended by a vote in the 
affirmative of four-fifths (4-5) of the chapters. 



♦To ensure the peculiar shape, all badges are stamped from one die by the national 
jeweler and may be obtained only through the General Secretary-Treasurer. Cost, eight (8) 
dollars each, postpaid. Certificates of membership may likewise be secured through the 
General Secretary-Treasurer. Cost, three (3) dollars each, carriage prepaid. 



22 CONSTITUTION 

§ 2. All amendments, which shall be in writing, must be presented 
to each chapter by the President of the Fraternity and must be pub- 
lished before it three (3) months prior to the voting. 

§ 3. Should a chapter fail to take action on any amendment for a 
period of six (6) months after it is presented by the President, that 
chapter is not to be understood as dissenting. 

THE OATH OF HIPPOCRATES 

The following oath was taken by the Greek medical student upon 
entrance to his chosen profession. Candidates for membership in our 
order are asked to subscribe to the spirit of this ancient pledge: 

/SWEAR by Apollo, the physician, and Aesculapius, and Health, and 
All-heal, and all the gods and goddesses, that, according to my ability 
and judgment, I will keep this oath and stipulation: to reckon him who 
taught me this art equally dear to me as my parents, to share my substance 
with him and relieve his necessities if required', to regard his of spring as 
on the same footing with my own brothers, and to teach them this art if they 
should wish to learn it, without fee or stipulation, and that by precept, 
lecture and every other mode of instruction, I will impart a knowledge of 
the art to my own sons and to those of my teachers, and to disciples bound 
by a stipulation and oath, according to the law of medicine, but to none 
others. I will follow that method of treatment which, according to my 
ability and judgment, I consider for the benefit of my patients, and abstain 
from whatever is deleterious and mischievous. I will give no deadly 
medicine to anyone if asked, nor suggest any such counsel; furthermore, 
I will not give to a woman an instrument to produce abortion. With 
purity and with holiness I will pass my life and practice my art. I will 
not cut a person who is suffering with a stone, but will leave this to be done 
by practitioners of this work. Into whatever houses I enter I will go into 
them for the benefit of the sick and will abstain from every voluntary act of 
mischief and corruption; and further from the seduction of females or 
males, bond or free. Whatever, in connection with my professional 
practice, or not in connection with it, I may see or hear in the lives of men 
which ought not to be spoken abroad, I will not divulge, as reckoning that 
all such should be kept secret. While I continue to keep this oath unviolated, 
may it be granted to me to enjoy life and the practice of the art, respected 
by all men at all times, but should I trespass and violate this oath, may 
the reverse be my lot. 



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